The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 176 The Lively Filch Office

Night tour?

How long has it been since they last went out at night after Dracula was defeated?

Looking into the girl's clear eyes, Moriarty agreed.

"Jellico, what about you?" Moriarty asked the person beside him, but did not hear the familiar answer. He turned around and found that only Marcus and Leon were beside him, and Jericho was nowhere to be seen.

He searched the table for Jericho, and Marcus said softly, "Sir, Jericho is at Ravenclaw's table."

Then, fearing Moriarty might not understand, he added, "With his girlfriend."

Moriarty then gave Lilith a playful look: "Looks like Jericho won't be going on the night out tonight, but don't expect him to stay in his dorm. He'll probably be out having a tryst with his girlfriend at the castle."

Lilith nodded with a smile, secretly delighted. The trio had become a two-person night out, and she had no objection whether they went to the library or the Room of Requirement.

She even imagined a scene: on a lonely night, a boy and a girl secretly learn spells in the forbidden book section, with the boy teaching the girl how to adjust her staff swinging posture.

As they continued to adjust, their bodies drew closer together through constant contact, and the two figures slowly merged...

Wow~ Is there anything more romantic than this?

Lilith struggled to suppress her laughter, instead behaving like a lady. "We'd better go to the library. I've only learned the Disillusionment Charm in the restricted section."

"Don't talk about night outings here." Moriarty glanced at the Gryffindor table. It seemed the Weasley twins' night outing plans had been exposed, and they were being lectured by Charlie.

In fact, nighttime outings were never an activity exclusive to Gryffindor. The little snakes and eagles were just as fond of nighttime outings, it's just that the little lions got caught the most times.

They demonstrated the importance of confidentiality to students from the other three colleges through repeated point deductions.

Lilith knew this, of course; she was just a little too excited. After Moriarty's reminder, she regained her composure, squinted at Moriarty, and held up two index fingers.

Moriarty nodded knowingly.

After dinner, he returned to his dorm. Jericho was still outside with his girlfriend, while Keith and Larpo had gone to club activities. Moriarty was the only one in the dorm.

He opened Salazar's diary and began to ponder. After his battle with Dracula, he had new ideas about the spells Salazar had left behind.

By 11 p.m., Jericho still hadn't returned, so Moriarty put on the Disillusionment Charm and slipped out of the dormitory.

Lilith sat gracefully on the sofa in the common room. She was clearly dressed up carefully, with light makeup, bright eyes, long golden hair cascading down her shoulders, and a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth.

Instead of wearing wizard robes and Slytherin attire, he wore a Muggle-style leather jacket paired with jeans, which accentuated his tall figure and gave him a dashing appearance.

Moriarty revealed himself and walked over. "Lilith, let's go."

"I've been waiting for you for ages," Lilith said, tossing her hair with a flourish that she did with a flourish, before standing up cheerfully. "Where's Blanche? Hasn't she really come back?"

As Moriarty cast the illusion spell on them, he shook his head: "Jellico probably won't be back tonight. You know, Americans are more open-minded about these things."

The two walked outside, chatting as they went. As they walked up the stairs to the first floor, they heard a cat meowing.

They immediately stopped and stood still.

"It's Mrs. Lorris again!" Lilith said with an annoyed expression. "I hear that meow at least twenty times a day. I'm starting to hate cats. This is bad. I used to like cats more than dogs."

"Listen carefully, Mrs. Lorice's cries are abnormal, full of panic." Moriarty frowned slightly, and Lilith also became alert: "Could Filch be in trouble? Could another Dracula appear?"

"Filch has alchemical tools; ordinary troubles are no problem for him, have you forgotten?" Moriarty followed the voice and walked over, with Lilith following behind him.

The two walked to the top of the stairs, where Mrs. Lorris's cries became clearer. Lilith looked at her strangely and said, "It sounds like the voice is coming from Filch's office."

"That's right, and did you hear that? There was laughter mixed in with the cat's meows."

Moriarty somewhat regretted not bringing the Slytherin Staff; if he had, he could have seen what was happening in Filch's office.

"I heard it. The laughter was soft and rhythmic, not like a chuckle, but more like a hearty laugh stuck in the throat." Lilith drew her wand in case of emergency. Having witnessed Dracula, she wouldn't be surprised if another terrifying monster appeared in this castle.

Moriarty suddenly realized: "You remind me that there are only two students in the whole castle who have this kind of laughter and enjoy teasing Mrs. Lorris—the Weasley twins."

Lilith shook her head and gently advised Moriarty, "Now that we've found the reason, let's go. The night is still long."

She didn't want the two pranksters to ruin her "date" with Moriarty.

But Moriarty had a completely different idea.

"Filch's office is right behind the stairs, very close to here. I think Filch must have been lured away by those little lions and can't get here in time."

I happen to need to pick something up from Filch's office, and this is a perfect opportunity.

Moriarty strode up the stairs to the first floor. Although Lilith regretted her unfinished date, she was very curious about "that thing" Moriarty had mentioned. She followed him and asked, "What could be worth going to such lengths to get? No, I should ask, what good things could Filch possibly have?"

"You'll see when I get it out." Moriarty gave Lilith a mysterious look, turned a corner, and arrived at the doorway of a room. He drew his wand and said, "Alohomora!"

With a "whoosh," the door to the room was opened from the outside, and the scene inside came into Moriarty's view.

This is an office with an oil lamp hanging from the ceiling, filled with the smell of grilled fish, and many filing cabinets used to store students' disciplinary records.

Mrs. Lorris ran incessantly between the filing cabinets, her limbs and feet covered in a yellowish, sticky substance, emanating a foul stench.

Fred and Lee Jordan, wands glowing with light, stood outside the cabinet, blocking Mrs. Lorris's way.

The poor old cat leaped three feet high, struggling to remove the stench from its paws while dodging the two troublemakers. That's how Moriarty and the others heard the cat meowing.

At that moment, the two people and the cat saw the office door open and froze on the spot.

"Meow—" Mrs. Loris cried out shrilly and ran frantically toward the door.

Fred and his black friends were terrified when they didn't see Moriarty and Lilith, and watched helplessly as Mrs. Lorris escaped.

"Is it haunted?" Lee Jordan asked, trembling.

"Haunted?" Fred raised his wand warily. "You're a wizard, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"Look what you've done!" Lilith released the illusion spell and angrily lashed out at the two first-year students. Just now, when Mrs. Loris ran out, she almost splashed something stinky on Lilith.

"You cast a spell on a cat?" Lilith walked up to them, her eyes flashing with a dangerous light.

"No, no..." Lee Jordan stammered.

Fred smiled ingratiatingly: "We got some dung balls from sixth-grader Che; we just wanted to scare the cat."

"You all must have thought you were heroes when it was screaming, right?" Lilith glared at Fred. "Get out of there! Now!"

Lee Jordan nodded hastily and took off running, but Fred grabbed his arm.

"Slytherin's second-year senior, you're also part of the night owl army. We won't listen to you," Fred said shrewdly, not at all stupid. "Why don't we work together and give that old man Filch a surprise!"

We'll steal all his alchemical tools!

"I advise you to abandon this idea." Moriarty's voice came from behind Fred, scaring the two little lions out of their wits.

They relaxed abruptly after recognizing Moriarty's face.

"Sir, we know you are not like old Filch; you will not betray others."

Fred wanted to put his arm around Moriarty's shoulder to make it look more intimate, but he couldn't reach him, so he had to give up the idea and awkwardly changed the direction of his outstretched hand to give Lee Jordan's downcast hand a high five.

"George and Cedric distracted old Filch, and we trapped the old cat in the office and beat her half to death! Haha, we've achieved a great victory!" Fred tried his best to liven things up.

Lilith pursed her lips: "I really want to hand you over to Professor McGonagall."

The two little lions panicked. Moriarty spoke up: "Professor Nicolas Flamel mentioned to me that alchemical artifacts he made would emit a deafening alarm if destroyed. If you still want to destroy alchemical artifacts, you'd better give up that idea."

Fred and Lee Jordan exchanged a glance, and Fred quickly said, "Thank you for your warning, sir. I think we should go now; George and the others are still waiting for us."

Moriarty glanced toward the door, which Fred took as permission to leave. He grabbed Lee Jordan and ran out, closing the door behind them.

Lilith asked suspiciously, "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course it's fake. Nicolas Flamel isn't that bored. I was just fooling those two lads so they could experience what it's like to be tricked."

Moriarty smiled slightly and walked towards the filing cabinet; what he needed was inside one of the cabinets.

(End of this chapter)